The 2013 US National YoYo Contest wrapped up this past weekend, and YoYoNews is looking back at each division and bringing you post-contest analysis.

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What in the late 90s – early 2000s was the most fiercely competitive division has now become a thin field for American players. The players at the top are WAY at the top, and the newcomers have a long way to go. The amount of time that it takes to learn 2A tricks versus every other style is remarkably off-putting to new players. While every other style of play requires you to learn a trick and then learn to hit it clean, 2A requires you to learn how to repeat tricks at high speed…the repetition is what weeds people out of this style quickly.

This year’s biggest upset was the last minute decision by defending champion Patrick Mitchell not to attend the event. What started as a showdown between National Champions Patrick Mitchell and Joseph Harris quickly turned in to a free-for-all. The point drop-off from 1st Place to 2nd Place was 21.2 points, and that should give you an idea of the level of competition this year.

Joseph Harris is a solid National Champion, two-times over, and there wasn’t anyone last Saturday who was playing at that level. Yoshi Mikamoto is a solid State/Regional player, but he’s not up to the level yet of being able to take on Joseph or Patrick Mitchell. Up-and-comer Ian Lawson showed a lot of promise and definitely earned his 3rd Place finish, and I think it’s safe to say we can expect some great things from him in the future.

Hawaiian players Ryan Lai and Alexander Kido are both great players but Ryan’s experience and old school style are no match for the new level of 2A, and Alexander still has a way to go before he can match Joseph or Patrick’s level of comfort on stage. Bringing up the bottom of the field we have John Huber who is a performer and demonstrator, not a competitor, and Josh Yee who enters as many divisions as he can without being truly competitive in any of them.

2A just didn’t deliver this year, which is a shame considering how great this style of play looks when done well. But we see some real promise in Ian Lawson and Alexander Kido, and hopefully this is the beginning of great things for both of them.

This year the 2A division is looking incredibly thin, competition-wise. Without Patrick Mitchell defending his title or Grant Johnson seeking to add to his list of titles, the cup for 2A is completely up for grabs!

2A Division

Joseph Harris – 2x National Champion

Joseph Harris is the clear frontrunner and, save a complete meltdown, should walk away with his third title. He had a very strong showing at Worlds despite taking the last spot in the finals. Joseph has improved his choreography considerably and has lots of new concepts and a few solid bangers.

Yoshi Mikamoto

Yoshi is Joseph’s biggest and most serious competition; Yoshi has just missed out on the podium for the last few years and looks poised to finally take home a medal. Yoshi is the most acrobatic 2A player in the US, which is always an applause generator–add in the fact he’s beloved by so many and it is easy to see why he’s a crowd favorite. For Yoshi to take down Joseph he will need to have upped his technical tricks since he last competed, and since he sat out this year at Worlds it will be interesting to see what he brings.

Ian Lawson

Ian one of the few up and coming 2A players. I’m confident he will take home a title eventually, but this might not be his year. He failed to qualify for the finals at this years World YoYo Contest, which means his technical skill just isn’t quite there yet; but he is improving faster than any other player in the United States and we can assume he will have improved considerably even since Worlds. This should land him a spot in the top 3 for the first time.

Ryan Lai

Ryan is a classic 2A player from the THP era which means his fundamentals are on lock. He has a great repertoire of tricks, and with a thin list of competitors Ryan has an undeniable shot at the top 3; he, however, is outmatched considerably by Joseph and Yoshi and will probably be fighting Ian for the final podium spot.

Because it is my regional contest, The Bay Area Classic is dear to my heart. Currently held in San Francisco, CA, the BAC always manages to bring together many of the world’s greatest players.

Since I personally never compete, I am always a spectator on the sidelines. I don’t mind this. In fact, I embrace it. Very rarely do you see me without my trusty camera. Since 1998, I have shot video at pretty much every yoyo event I’ve gone to. Some people have said that my work has documented the growth and change of yoyoing over the past 15 years. While I don’t feel I’m worthy of such high praise, I do feel that my videos have made a large impact in the yoyo community. That is why when the BAC committee asked me if I was willing to help shoot freestyles for the event, I gladly accepted. This acceptance, however, came with a downside.

This year, BAC ran freestyles throughout the day (as opposed to the end of the day). While this made everything run much smoother, it meant that I was unable to film tricks for a clip video since I would be busy with freestyles all day. I was pretty bummed, as I really enjoy making clip videos. So, to get my “documenting fix” in, I decided to shoot photographs and maybe hope that I could grab some good video footage at the Official BAC BBQ on Sunday.

My initial video plan was to make a video that showed people hanging out at the BAC BBQ. I wanted to make a sequel to last year’s BAC video, but this time focus on the players themselves, instead of their tricks. I wanted to show all of us hanging out, laughing, having a good time, making up and sharing tricks, and relaxing after a tough competition. This was the plan until I got home and realized that the photos I had taken all weekend showed a much more interesting story.

Over the course of the weekend, I shot approximately 2000 photos using a combination of my iPhone, Lumix LX7, and Sony NEX-5N using (primarily) a 8mm fisheye. If you were in my vicinity at any point this weekend, odds are I took your picture.

Inspired by Kohta’s EYYC 2012 video, this BAC 2013 video shows a different side of the contest filled with friends, family, spirits, camaraderie, yoyoing, and kendama.

It was a contest full of big names and fierce competition, with World and National Champions in all divisions! Taking first place in 1A and the US$1000 prize was World Champion Yuuki Spencer, followed by YoyoFactory team members Gentry Stein and Augie Fash.

The 5A title went to Tyler Severance, who beat Miguel Correa for the other thousand-dollar prize.

YoyoJam took home the titles in 2A, 3A, and 4A, with Joseph Harris, Alex Hattori, and Bryan Figueroa, respectively. Each of them took home 500 dollars!

Judging by the feedback by both attendees and those who followed the action on the live stream, it’s safe to say that California States was a huge success, and we hope to see more contests with coverage and prizes as good as those brought to us by Chris Allen, who ran this superb event!